The proposed project represents the second component of a three-phase longitudinal study exploring strategies used by nonmetropolitan elderly and their informal caregivers in coping with the effects of declining health status and functional capacity. Special attention is focused on the changes in the structure and effectiveness of informal support networks which accompany these declines among older persons in environments ranging from isolated to rural to urbanized areas. The project will also examine the impact of extended caregiving on primary caregivers. This phase of the analysis will examine the impact of different morbidity and disability patterns and network characteristics on both the objective and subjective components of caregiving burdens. The project will also explore the applicability of the research identifying positive consequences of multiple roles to the situation of elder caregivers. Data for the analysis will be collected through personal interviews with a panel of community-based elderly residing in eight counties in northeastern New York and with their helpers. The panel was selected through linear probability sampling.